Domain Academy

[NicTraders]

Thanks for that feedback.

For Afternic I let the guy in charge know to look over this thread to read the feedback.

I understand the paywall issue but as a plug for Domain Academy the complete toolset that we offer is much cheaper than if you were to subscribe to separate tools to get that same info. I am starting to put some of the tools and their uses on YouTube, and will add more content on how they can help an investor throughout the course of the year.

On the Domain Academy side of things the tool is still in Beta. I am working with the devs to make it more robust and the First new feature I have on my list is to get a "date added" filter. If you have any other feedback I am all ears.

That's it for now I don't want to hijack this thread but maybe I can get another one going on Domain Academy. Thanks again for your feedback.

Joe,

Perhaps I'm not too savvy, so I apologize in advance. But, is there any chance you could explain why you hide a proper search function behind a paywall (aside from collecting Domain Academy fees that is)? I absolutely refuse to pay a fee just so I can do a search. And personally, I don't care for the other tools on offer. So I don't visit AN at all now when looking to purchase domains. I know there are others like me. So there are a bunch of investors who could purchase from you but don't. Please tell me why that makes better business sense for GoDaddy?

I understand there is value in Domain Academy for many people, but why make it so the Afternic Search is part of that?

 

[Joe Styler]

Joe,

Perhaps I'm not too savvy, so I apologize in advance. But, is there any chance you could explain why you hide a proper search function behind a paywall (aside from collecting Domain Academy fees that is)? I absolutely refuse to pay a fee just so I can do a search. And personally, I don't care for the other tools on offer. So I don't visit AN at all now when looking to purchase domains. I know there are others like me. So there are a bunch of investors who could purchase from you but don't. Please tell me why that makes better business sense for GoDaddy?

I understand there is value in Domain Academy for many people, but why make it so the Afternic Search is part of that?

Domain Academy exists to help investors successfully invest in domain names. Afternic focused on selling your domains. Investing is much broader and there are key elements needed to be a successful investor. You make money on the buy side and you need to identify what names to buy, how to value them, how to price them, and ultimately how to monetize them for a return on investment. This involves sales but can also involve parking or leasing etc.

At Domain Academy we offer a variety of resources to be able to help investors make a positive return on their investments. One big one is knowledge via classwork and live training sessions. Another key element is a toolset that assists you in putting your training into practice and gives you the ability to research domain names in a systematic way to help you improve your chances of making a positive return on your investment in time and money.

Domain Academy has a lot to offer an investor at any level, but I do not want to hijack this thread.

To focus on your question of why Afternic search is behind a paywall, it is not. We did not take Afternic search or Dan for that matter and hide it, we built and released this tool well before search was removed. It is not a replacement for search, it is a tool built specifically with domain investors in mind using a wide variety of filters, many of which correspond directly to what is taught in the course curriculum, so that investors can use the same paradigm of thought and process and apply it 1 to 1 to finding domains at Afternic. It is one of many tools built to help you find and evaluate domain names for potential investment that are offered for free to all domain academy students as a part of the class. These tools are very valuable. I really think any investor can benefit from the class, live sessions, and tools we use to become a better investor and make more money with domains.

 

[Kyle Tully]

Domain Academy exists to help investors successfully invest in domain names. Afternic focused on selling your domains. Investing is much broader and there are key elements needed to be a successful investor. You make money on the buy side and you need to identify what names to buy, how to value them, how to price them, and ultimately how to monetize them for a return on investment. This involves sales but can also involve parking or leasing etc.

At Domain Academy we offer a variety of resources to be able to help investors make a positive return on their investments. One big one is knowledge via classwork and live training sessions. Another key element is a toolset that assists you in putting your training into practice and gives you the ability to research domain names in a systematic way to help you improve your chances of making a positive return on your investment in time and money.

Domain Academy has a lot to offer an investor at any level, but I do not want to hijack this thread.

To focus on your question of why Afternic search is behind a paywall, it is not. We did not take Afternic search or Dan for that matter and hide it, we built and released this tool well before search was removed. It is not a replacement for search, it is a tool built specifically with domain investors in mind using a wide variety of filters, many of which correspond directly to what is taught in the course curriculum, so that investors can use the same paradigm of thought and process and apply it 1 to 1 to finding domains at Afternic. It is one of many tools built to help you find and evaluate domain names for potential investment that are offered for free to all domain academy students as a part of the class. These tools are very valuable. I really think any investor can benefit from the class, live sessions, and tools we use to become a better investor and make more money with domains.

DA is great for domain investors. The education is top notch and the tools are handy.

But the Dan style search for customers is so much better for uncovering good names. Many builders/entrepreneurs (Nick Huber types) immediately go there to find a name for their startup.

GD search fails miserably in this department.

 

[NameGroove]

Domain Academy exists to help investors successfully invest in domain names. Afternic focused on selling your domains. Investing is much broader and there are key elements needed to be a successful investor. You make money on the buy side and you need to identify what names to buy, how to value them, how to price them, and ultimately how to monetize them for a return on investment. This involves sales but can also involve parking or leasing etc.

At Domain Academy we offer a variety of resources to be able to help investors make a positive return on their investments. One big one is knowledge via classwork and live training sessions. Another key element is a toolset that assists you in putting your training into practice and gives you the ability to research domain names in a systematic way to help you improve your chances of making a positive return on your investment in time and money.

Domain Academy has a lot to offer an investor at any level, but I do not want to hijack this thread.

To focus on your question of why Afternic search is behind a paywall, it is not. We did not take Afternic search or Dan for that matter and hide it, we built and released this tool well before search was removed. It is not a replacement for search, it is a tool built specifically with domain investors in mind using a wide variety of filters, many of which correspond directly to what is taught in the course curriculum, so that investors can use the same paradigm of thought and process and apply it 1 to 1 to finding domains at Afternic. It is one of many tools built to help you find and evaluate domain names for potential investment that are offered for free to all domain academy students as a part of the class. These tools are very valuable. I really think any investor can benefit from the class, live sessions, and tools we use to become a better investor and make more money with domains.

Joe, your response is basically selling telling someone that they should want what they do not want. Some do want it of course. But some do not. To sell describe the other benefits of your service when someone specifically asks you why GoDaddy won't allow search is not in line with the old motto "the customer is always right".

GoDaddy acts like this domainers parent, telling him that he is unable to make a proper buy decision without using all the tools that you conveniently sell. What he (and others I assume) want is access to a search tool. The OP is a grown man and can make his own determination on which names to buy without assistance. Perhaps other grown men (and women) feel differently and use your service to identify what to buy. That is their prerogative. And of course there is nothing wrong with GoDaddy selling its service, i'm sure you have many happy customers.

What bothers me is the response that reads as sanctimonious to me - that domainers who do not choose to buy your service are simply unable to "find and evaluate domain names for potential investment".

GoDaddy should provide access to search so people can find what they want, whether that is an investor looking for a domain or an end user who wants to name their company. You want to hide it behind a paywall - that is your prerogative. But just say that. Search costs us money and we need to charge for it. Do not hide behind the concept of "you are incapable of being a successful domainer unless you do it our way take our Academy".

 

[Future Sensors]

Joe, please tell us again how good Domain Academy is.

 

[D Haynes]

Joe, please tell us again how good Domain Academy is.

Even if it is good you can bet your bottom dollar those are the bits MC wrote before selling it. No way GD has made it any better since they've had it

 

[NicTraders]

Domain Academy exists to help investors successfully invest in domain names. Afternic focused on selling your domains. Investing is much broader and there are key elements needed to be a successful investor. You make money on the buy side and you need to identify what names to buy, how to value them, how to price them, and ultimately how to monetize them for a return on investment. This involves sales but can also involve parking or leasing etc.

At Domain Academy we offer a variety of resources to be able to help investors make a positive return on their investments. One big one is knowledge via classwork and live training sessions. Another key element is a toolset that assists you in putting your training into practice and gives you the ability to research domain names in a systematic way to help you improve your chances of making a positive return on your investment in time and money.

Domain Academy has a lot to offer an investor at any level, but I do not want to hijack this thread.

To focus on your question of why Afternic search is behind a paywall, it is not. We did not take Afternic search or Dan for that matter and hide it, we built and released this tool well before search was removed. It is not a replacement for search, it is a tool built specifically with domain investors in mind using a wide variety of filters, many of which correspond directly to what is taught in the course curriculum, so that investors can use the same paradigm of thought and process and apply it 1 to 1 to finding domains at Afternic. It is one of many tools built to help you find and evaluate domain names for potential investment that are offered for free to all domain academy students as a part of the class. These tools are very valuable. I really think any investor can benefit from the class, live sessions, and tools we use to become a better investor and make more money with domains.

Thanks for taking the time to reply Joe. I guess I misunderstood. Earlier in the thread you said there was a wonderful search feature at "DomainAcademy.com/tools and choose Afternic Advanced Search". Since I am not a DDC member I can't see this. But you said above that Afternic search is not behind a paywall. So, where can I access this search without the paywall please?...

 

[Joe Styler]

Thanks for taking the time to reply Joe. I guess I misunderstood. Earlier in the thread you said there was a wonderful search feature at "DomainAcademy.com/tools and choose Afternic Advanced Search". Since I am not a DDC member I can't see this. But you said above that Afternic search is not behind a paywall. So, where can I access this search without the paywall please?...

What I am saying is that Domain Academy tools are separate from Afternic as a platform, they encompass data points and search from many platforms inside and outside the GoDaddy umbrella. We built the Afternic Advanced Search specifically to serve investors based on their feedback and using filters that correspond to the classwork paradigms. We did not take Afternic's search and put it behind a paywall. I do not run Afternic and when we built this tool Afternic had its own search live. You can follow up in the Afternic thread with the team there to see what plans they have for search in the future but Domain Academy did not build a tool to replace or remove anything we build tools to serve our students and help them be successful.

 

[Future Sensors]

Tagging @bmugford here as well, since he was involved in this Afternic Search / Domain Academy discussion, as well.

 

[Joe Styler]

Joe, your response is basically selling telling someone that they should want what they do not want. Some do want it of course. But some do not. To sell describe the other benefits of your service when someone specifically asks you why GoDaddy won't allow search is not in line with the old motto "the customer is always right".

GoDaddy acts like this domainers parent, telling him that he is unable to make a proper buy decision without using all the tools that you conveniently sell. What he (and others I assume) want is access to a search tool. The OP is a grown man and can make his own determination on which names to buy without assistance. Perhaps other grown men (and women) feel differently and use your service to identify what to buy. That is their prerogative. And of course there is nothing wrong with GoDaddy selling its service, i'm sure you have many happy customers.

What bothers me is the response that reads as sanctimonious to me - that domainers who do not choose to buy your service are simply unable to "find and evaluate domain names for potential investment".

GoDaddy should provide access to search so people can find what they want, whether that is an investor looking for a domain or an end user who wants to name their company. You want to hide it behind a paywall - that is your prerogative. But just say that. Search costs us money and we need to charge for it. Do not hide behind the concept of "you are incapable of being a successful domainer unless you do it our way take our Academy".

Forgive me if my passion for the Domain Academy comes across that way. That is not my intent. Anyone who knows me knows I really want to help investors to be successful any way I can. I love Domain Academy because it can help people with training and tools to be successful. Of course you can be successful without it, but why not take a look at any option there is to learn and research. I am always learning new things about domain names and I have been involved with them for close to 2 decades. I love to learn and to help others if I can. If there are things missing from the class or tools that would help I would love to know what we can do to make it better.

 

[bmugford]

Forgive me if my passion for the Domain Academy comes across that way. That is not my intent. Anyone who knows me knows I really want to help investors to be successful any way I can. I love Domain Academy because it can help people with training and tools to be successful. Of course you can be successful without it, but why not take a look at any option there is to learn and research. I am always learning new things about domain names and I have been involved with them for close to 2 decades. I love to learn and to help others if I can. If there are things missing from the class or tools that would help I would love to know what we can do to make it better.

Here is the problem though...You know what else helps domain investors?

Having a publicly available search so potential buyers can find their domains for sale.

More people being able to find what they want = more sales.

More sales = more sales for domain investors (and GoDaddy).

Brad

 

[NicTraders]

What I am saying is that Domain Academy tools are separate from Afternic as a platform, they encompass data points and search from many platforms inside and outside the GoDaddy umbrella. We built the Afternic Advanced Search specifically to serve investors based on their feedback and using filters that correspond to the classwork paradigms. We did not take Afternic's search and put it behind a paywall. I do not run Afternic and when we built this tool Afternic had its own search live. You can follow up in the Afternic thread with the team there to see what plans they have for search in the future but Domain Academy did not build a tool to replace or remove anything we build tools to serve our students and help them be successful.

Thanks for the response.
"You can follow up in the Afternic thread with the team there to see what plans they have for search..." Sadly that appears impossible as they don't respond to any of the numerous issues of late. It's a shame that all the different divisions of the GD business appear to operate in silos because it would be wonderful if other leaders were equally as passionate as you are about producing a quality product. The fact that you can stand up a decent quality search product around the same time as other parts of the business get rid of it seems pretty poor management from someone.

 

[Kyle Tully]

Here is the problem though...You know what else helps domain investors?

Having a publicly available search so potential buyers can find their domains for sale.

More people being able to find what they want = more sales.

More sales = more sales for domain investors (and GoDaddy).

Brad

Indeed, the entire discussion had nothing to do with domain investors finding names, we're really good at that.

We were talking about the search functionality for END USERS to find our names.

This is what is currently severely lacking.

 

[Patryx]

I would replay with a motto: If someone discovers the secret of success, he will never reveal it, what he will do is sell the promise of success.

 

[Joe Styler]

I have been working on some video content on the YouTube channel for Domain Academy. We have some exciting things coming on there as well. This week I uploaded a long form video analyzing 3 closeout domains on the auction and taking you through some of the steps you can use to see what domains might be worth the bid or which ones might deserve a pass.

 

[kor]

I really think any investor can benefit from the class, live sessions, and tools we use to become a better investor and make more money with domains.

What if I'm a pro investor already and do not need that braggy domain academy bla-bla?

Or what if I'm a newbie investor who already studied that old head with blinkers domain academy la-di-da?

While your competitors are trying everything to reach more buyers, you completely destroyed a working search system and made it .SUCKS, and put the advanced search system that should be public behind a $240/year paywall.

If you can make the store work as it should, there is no doubt that we can make more money with domains.

---

Off-topic question: Joe, do you think wearing dastar blocks oxygen delivery to the brain? Just asking for a friend...

 

[Joe Styler]

I keep releasing new videos on theYouTube channel evaluating domains using the tools we have. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFOuYkvwWvPGt1RwbLVoxzg

 

[Joe Styler]

Here's the next video showcasing 2 brandable domain names coming up for auction next week.

 

[Future Sensors]

In your video, the tool thinks FlexaDerm is made up of Flex, Ade, and Rm and then does some weird analysis based on that. I think you need to do some more tinkering before this is useful, Joe.

 

[Joe Styler]

In your video, the tool thinks FlexaDerm is made up of Flex, Ade, and Rm and then does some weird analysis based on that. I think you need to do some more tinkering before this is useful, Joe.

I think I pointed that out in the video, that you needed to manually look at the comps more closely because of this.